Tamil Nadu Unlock 3.0 News: Liquor Shops in Chennai to Reopen From Tuesday

However, liquor shops in malls and containment zones will continue to stay closed. Also, liquor shops that open will be allowed to serve a maximum of 500 customers a day.

Tamil Nadu Unlock 3.0 News: The Tamil Nadu government has announced that liquor shops will reopen in Chennai from Tuesday for the first time in nearly five months. In a statement, the state government said that these shops would be allowed to operate between 10 AM-7 PM only.

TASMAC shops to reopen in Chennai from August 18. pic.twitter.com/MGL7WjoNgt

— AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) August 16, 2020

However, liquor shops in malls and containment zones will continue to stay closed. Also, shops will be allowed to serve a maximum of 500 customers per day, that too through a token system.

Additionally, customers have been directed to wear masks and practice social distancing at all times while visiting the liquor outlets.

Notably, liquor shops in Tamil Nadu had reopened in May, as in the rest of the country, for the first time since the nationwide lockdown came into effect from March 25. However, due to high number of COVID-19 cases in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu government did not allow reopening of liquor shops in the state capital, as well as its suburubs.

Later, after videos emerged of massive crowds gathering outside liquor shops, thus violating social distancing norms, the Madars High Court ordered their closure. The ban, however, was stayed by the Supreme Court after the Tamil Nadu government challenged the high court order there.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, witnessed a spike of 5,950, taking its overall COVID-19 count to 3,38,055. This includes 5,766 deaths, of which 125 were from Sunday itself. The number of recovered and active cases are 2,78,270 and 54,019 respectively.

Chennai, meanwhile, registered 1,196 new cases, thus witnessing a spike of over 1,000 for a third consecutive day.